The Ferret Incident
by bouncingblondeferret
Summary: Lily Luna Potter finally decides to tell her brother James that her boyfriend is Scorpius Malfoy. Over-protectiveness ensues. Next-gen one-shot, enjoy!


Scorpius and Lily had been dating in secret for a week before Lily decided to tell her brother, James, about the relationship. She was avoiding telling him because she knew her brother would be furious that she was going out with their father's school nemesis' son. The Saturday before the first Quidditch match of the year, where they would be seeking against each other Scorpius decided he wanted to tell people about their relationship.

"Lily I'm sick of hiding this," he complained, "I want to shout to the world, 'I'm dating Lily Potter!'"

"I know," Lily said, "I don't know why I haven't told James yet."

"I like you too much to hide it, if you don't tell him before the Quidditch match I will."

"Let's go tell him right now," she suggested. "Are you ready? He will almost definitely lash out at you."

"I'll be fine," he promised.

James was sitting under a tree by the lake enjoying the last few weeks of sun before the weather changed. Now or never, Lily told herself. Scorpius squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"James," Lily called, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Hey Lils," he called back. Fred and Dominique, two of their cousins, were sitting with him. More witnesses to whatever horrible thing he was about to do to Scorpius, thought Lily. She let go of Scorpius' hand and walked over to James.

She seemed to deliberate speaking for a moment, then blurted, "I have a boyfriend."

It caught James off guard; he felt like his feet had been kicked out from beneath him and the breath had been knocked out of him. Lily has a boyfriend, his mind was racing, my baby sister has a boyfriend. James let that sink in and prepared himself for her answer to the question he was about to ask.

"Who?" James asked. He ran through the possibilities in his mind: maybe one of the Scamander twins, she had dated Lorcan in second year so maybe they were back together, or perhaps one of the boys on the Quidditch team. He was not expecting what she replied with.

"Scorpius." He was standing a few metres behind Lily. Scorpius Malfoy and my sister were dating, thought James. His insides were boiling with fury but the shock kept him statue still. Scorpius Malfoy, son of Draco Malfoy, Death Eater and Dad's school nemesis. One story about Dad and Draco's time at school stuck out in his mind: the time Draco got turned into a ferret.

James jumped to his feet and shouted the incantation that would turn Malfoy into a ferret. Looking back James didn't know why he did it; there was so much rage in his mind that he wasn't thinking straight. James smiled at his handiwork; Malfoy was a cute ferret.

Lily didn't seem to be too impressed with James transfiguring Malfoy, even though it was pretty advanced magic.

"Turn him back!" she was shouting at her brother. "Turn him back right now!"

"Say please," he said childishly, still smirking.

"James Sirius Potter, you evil git, _please_ turn Scorpius back."

"She reminds me of my Aunt Ginny when she's mad," Fred said to Dominique.

"Shut up Fred!" Lily yelled at him.

"Sorry Lily," said Fred possibly fearing for his life, Lily can be quite intimidating for such a small girl when she gets in a rage.

"James," Dominique was trying to reason with him. "You better change him back. You'll get in trouble."

"Turn him back!" Lily shouted yet again, tears streaming down her face. Professor McGonagall must have heard the ruckus because she came to investigate.

"What is going on here?" she asked. She may be old but you authority can still be heard in her stern voice; the Headmistress is not a force to be reckoned with.

James didn't answer; another wave of shock hit him: Lily liked Scorpius. She liked him; did she have no common sense?

"My prat of a brother turned Scorpius into a ferret!" Lily exclaimed; she had a way with words, that girl. Professor McGonagall a waved her wand and Scorpius returned to his human form, looking slightly flustered but otherwise unharmed.

"Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy, Mr Weasley, Miss Weasley and Miss Potter, will you please accompany me to my office," she requested sternly. Professor McGonagall wasn't a force to be reckoned with at the best of times; nobody would dare to cross her when she was furious. James, Scorpius, Fred, Dominique and Lily walked up to the headmistress's office. She conjured up five chairs and asked them what happened.

Dominique spoke first, "James, Fred and I were sitting by the lake when Lily came up to us."

"And I told him I was dating Scorpius," Lily continued the story.

"So I turned the git into a ferret," finished James casually.

"What forced you to turn Mr Malfoy into a ferret?" Professor McGonagall asked James incredulously.

"My dad told me a story once about Scorpius's dad getting turned into a ferret by a disguised death eater in their fourth year," he replied. Lily remembered the story and thought it was cruel. "I was mad and that was the first thing that came into my mind."

"What was it that caused you to become so infuriated, Mr Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked, becoming impatient.

"My baby sister-"

"I'm almost fifteen!"

"-is going out with Malfoy!" James thought that should have been enough explanation, but apparently it wasn't.

"I still don't see why you became so enraged," said Professor McGonagall.

"He's an overprotective git, that's why," Lily said.

"You can settle your family dispute in a more appropriate manner at a later time but for now Mr Potter I need to speak with you about your punishment. The rest of you may leave," said Professor McGonagall and Lily, Malfoy, Dominique and Fred left the office.

When they were outside the office Fred said concernedly, "I've known James my whole life and I've never seen him like that. So … cold, it was kind of frightening."

"You think that was frightening? Try being the one transformed into a ferret," Scorpius spoke for the first time since he had been transformed.

"Are you ok?" Lily asked.

"I'm fine," he reassured her.

It was about then that James realised he had done something incredibly stupid and was about to get into an immense amount of trouble. He hoped she didn't kick me off the Quidditch team; he didn't think the team would forgive him for that. Professor McGonagall shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"James Sirius Potter," she said, "how incredibly like your namesakes you are. They, too, were troublemakers." James wasn't sure how to respond to that and she seemed to realise that because she kept speaking. She gave him the punishment and told him to go straight to Gryffindor Tower. James did as he was told; he went to his dormitory and sat on his bed thinking about the past half hour.

Scorpius and Lily were the biggest gossips of the school for the next few days. Not because of the rivalry of their houses and families, but the fact James turned Scorpius into a ferret. Everyone was talking about it, so it wasn't much of a surprise Sunday morning when they were summoned to the headmistress's office. Lily walked beside Scorpius but James lagged a few meters behind them. He was obviously still uncomfortable with them dating, not that Lily was expecting much from him.

What they saw when they got to the Professor McGonagall's office surprised them. Their parents were there, which wasn't a good sign. Scorpius had the same blonde hair as his father, but Draco's hairline had receded and he didn't seem to have much of his hair left. Scorpius also had the same grey eyes as his father, but Scorpius's were always sparkling and lively, where Draco's were cold and reminiscent of cement. Scorpius didn't look much like his mother, Astoria, at. Professor McGonagall conjured up more chairs like she did the day before and they sat down.

"You turned my son into a ferret!" Draco shouted to James. Harry was holding back a chuckle, but one look from his wife made him realise how serious the situation was.

"Why did you do it James?" Ginny asked in her 'calm' voice. Hearing that voice means she is very close to her 'angry' voice and Lily had a feeling she would be using it in the next few minutes.

"Ask them," James spat at Lily and Scorpius; he was obviously still cranky. Ginny, Harry, Draco and Astoria all looked directly as them.

Lily was too intimidated to speak so Scorpius simply said, "I'm dating Lily."

Ginny, Harry and Astoria looked slightly shocked but quickly regained their composure; Draco, however, looked set to explode. For the next few minutes all he did was pace angrily and shout things like, "A ferret!" and "Dating her!"

Lily began counting in my head to pass the awkwardness; she got to 127 when Astoria gingerly went up to her husband and said, "Draco, honey, perhaps you should sit down."

Professor McGonagall spoke next, "I understand the seriousness of the situation, Mr Malfoy, but I think your request of having Mr Potter expelled would be taking it too far." Harry was stifling a snicker again.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to be turned into a ferret? I demand to see some sort of punishment for this heinous crime," Draco ordered. Harry giggled when he said 'ferret' and Ginny glared at him.

"Mr Potter has been given a month of detentions and has had the privilege of Hogsmeade visits taken away from him," Professor McGonagall answered ignoring Harry's giggle. At least James's still allowed on the Quidditch team, thought Lily. Draco seemed to be appeased; his face stopped looking angry, instead he looked smug. "Miss Potter and Mr Malfoy, would you mind stepping out for a moment?"

They did as we were told. Standing in the corridor Scorpius and Lily could hear Ginny using her 'angry' voice through the door and they were glad it was separating them from Ginny Potter in a rage.

"You've met my parents," Scorpius said half smiling.

"And you've met mine," Lily countered glumly.

"Cheer up Lils," he said, "it could be worse. We could be James right now." Scorpius was right: Ginny was still shouting at James and there is nothing, _nothing_worse than being yelled at by their mother.

"We could be your Dad," Lily said, a small smile playing at her mouth. Scorpius looked slightly confused so she continued, "you haven't heard that story have you?"

"What story?" he asked. Lily thought he was very cute when he was confused.

"The story of when your Dad got turned into a ferret by a disguised Death Eater," she explained.

"Is that what James was talking about yesterday?"

"Yeah," she answered, "apparently your Dad went to curse my Dad so a Death Eater disguised as a teacher turned him into a ferret. It was quite mean."

"I think my old man must have kept that one to himself," said Scorpius, a dark shadow passing across his face.

"I think Mum's stopped shouting at James," Lily said. She was right; it was quiet in the office.

After a few moments of quiet Lily and James' brother Albus walked past. "Hey Lils, what are you doing outside the office?" he said ignoring Scorpius. Al was taking the news of their relationship better than James but he still wasn't overly pleased.

"Mum and Dad are in there," Lily said pointing to Professor McGonagall's office.

Al looked slightly confused so Scorpius explained, "My Dad found out about yesterday and requested a meeting with the headmistress, James and your parents."

"Oh," Al said.

The office door swung open and Ginny, Harry, James, Mr and Mrs Malfoy stepped out.

"Scorpius, may we have a word?" Mr Malfoy asked ushering his son over to a quiet section of hallway.

"A Malfoy, Lily?" Harry asked his daughter looking slightly disappointed, "I thought you could have done better."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked angrily. "I know you've got a grudge against his Dad, but Scorpius isn't like that, he's sweet."

"Harry, Scorpius isn't Draco," Ginny said gently to her husband, "I think we should trust Lily's judgement and let them be."

"Thanks, Mum," Lily said.

"How are your classes going?" Ginny asked her kids cheerily as thought the past hour hadn't happened.

"Good," Al and Lily replied. James didn't respond; he just stood behind them broodingly.

Scorpius returned a few minutes later without his father; he went outside with Lily and they sat under a big shady tree by the lake.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lily asked Scorpius cautiously. "Or would you rather I distracted you with mindless small talk?"

He pondered her question for a moment then replied, "Mindless small talk. I need a bit more time before I can talk about it."

"It my birthday soon," she smiled weakly, hoping Scorpius would lose his serious expression.

"What day?" he asked looking slightly less glum.

"October fourth," she said, "it's the day before the first Hogsmeade visit."

"You'll be fifteen?"

"Yeah, you'll be seventeen in…"

"June. The eighteenth."

"The small talk isn't distracting enough is it?" He still hadn't smiled.

"No," he said apologetically. Lily moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.


End file.
